Mali: Hele familien vil hjem – hjem til Timbuktu

Abdou, his wife Fatoumata, his second wife, their six children, his six brothers and three nieces are waiting; all are anxious for the boat to take them home to Timbuktu in the north.

In April 2012, as armed groups advanced, they fled south to the town of Mopti. They left everything behind: their land, their houses, and even some members of their extended family.

But today, although the security situation in the north remains perilous (skrøbelig /farlig), all they want is to go home.

“We simply cannot afford to live as displaced people in Mopti anymore,” explains Abdou, adding:

“Everything has become so expensive. We cannot pay the rent and we are afraid we will be put out in the street. In Timbuktu, we have our own house; we have food, fish and rice. Everything is cheaper.”

In Mopti, the family rented a small home, and received some assistance from humanitarian agencies. But it was not enough.

At the port, and at Mopti’s bus station, staff from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) interview travellers and ask them the reasons for their departure and their destination.

In the last week of March, over 690 people told them that, like Abdou and his family, they were on their way home.

Since 2012, conflict between armed groups and government forces has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

More than 280.000 have sought refuge within Mali, in towns like Mopti. A further 173.700 Malians are living in neighbouring countries, says the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Risky return